HOYLAKE, England — Weyburn, Sask.’s Graham DeLaet did all he could to shoot his way out of the Open Championship before he turned around and tried to shoot his way back in.

But until the 36-hole cut number was established Friday evening, all he could do was sit tight and hope.

The hope ran out when favourable afternoon weather at Royal Liverpool contributed to better scoring, and DeLaet, who rallied to shoot 76 after a horrendous first-nine 42, fell one stroke shy of playing the weekend.

For Brantford, Ont.’s David Hearn, though, it was all smiles.

Graham Delaet walks with Cheng-Tsung Pan of Taiwan during the second round. (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

The 35-year-old Open rookie, playing just his second competitive round on a links course, faltered in the middle of his round with four bogeys in a five-hole stretch, but made three birdies on the back including the last two holes for a 73 and a one-under-par total of 143 that put him comfortably inside the cut line.

“You’re going to make your mistakes out here, and that’s the stretch where I kind of struggled with today,” he said. “I didn’t really do much. The par five (10th) I maybe tried to play too aggressive a shot on the second shot but apart from that I felt very good. After I made that mistake, I played great golf for the last eight holes, I gave myself birdie chances on almost every hole and I felt great about it.

“I’m proud of myself. I feel real happy where my game is at. I know I’m 11 back so I’m as happy as you can be being 11 out of the lead, but Rory’s played unbelievable golf and those other guys at the top — it’s not easy out there and they’re making it look that way a little bit.

“But it felt really good. I really enjoy this type of golf, you get to hit a lot of shots and patience is the key and I’m pretty good at that.”

DeLaet, after his poor start, played the back nine three-under, holing an 80-yard pitch-and-run for an eagle three at the 16th, at which point he thought he still had a chance.

”Obviously got off to a pretty bad front nine there but I knew that if I could just shoot a couple, three under on that back side … it doesn’t seem like the wind is laying down at all yet. If it stays like this I might have a shot,” he said.

But the wind did soften, and scores were significantly lower for the afternoon groups, so in the end, he got the windy side of the draw both days, and paid for it.

Graham Delaet of Canada chats to his caddie during the second round. (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

“It’s just so strong, you have hit the ball so crisp to control the spin and that’s what I really just wasn’t doing on the front nine,” DeLaet said. “Everything is so difficult out there. Even three, four-footers, the ball is oscillating and the wind is moving your body and it’s just really tough to hit good, solid putts.”

He double-bogeyed the first hole, bogeyed the second, and after a birdie at the fifth, went five-over-par on the last two holes of the outward nine.

“It’s actually, for whatever reason, it’s easier when you make the turn to kind of start a new nine. I wish I could have done it on the ninth tee instead of the 10th tee but, like

I said, I knew that I had three par-5s on the backside and if I could birdie them all and make pars the rest of the way, I’d maybe have a chance,” he said.

“It was all I could do, I played my guts out on the back nine to try to make it happen.”

Cam Cole came to The Vancouver Sun in 2005 after seven years in Toronto as the principal sports columnist of The National Post. Born in Vegreville, Alta., he began his sportswriting career at The Edmonton... read more Journal in 1975, and has been writing a daily sports column for the last 21 years.View author's profile